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3   ^153  DlEtDflflD?   S 


THE  EARLY  HISTOEY     f.^^ 


OF  THE 


CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH  AND  SOCIETY, 


OF 


NORTH     BRANFORD. 


DELIVERED  IN  THE  OOIfGREGATIONAL  OHDHOH,  JAN.  6  1850. 


Remember  the  days  of  old ;  consider  the  years  of  many  generations. — Deut.  xxxn,  7. 


BY  GEORGE  I.  WOOD. 


PUBLISHED    BY    REQUEST. 


NEW  HAVEN : 

PRINTED    BY    J.    H.    BENHAM,    ORANGE    STREET. 

1850. 


; 


PREFACE. 


The  following  sketch  was  originally  delivered  in  sermon  form  on  the  text 

which  appears  on  the  title  page.    Since  its  delivery  it  has  been  revised  and 

rewritten.     It  was  written  and  is  now  published,  for  the  people  of  North 

r~  Branford.    The  reference  it  contains  to  certain  localities  in  the  town,  and 

<j-  the  names  of  persons  which  appear  on  its  pages,  will  of  course  be  matters 

y  of  interest  chiefly  among  those  for  whose  benefit  it  was  written.    Whatever 

vj  interest  may  be  felt  in  it  by  others  who  happen  to  read  it,  can  arise  only 

U  from  the  fact  that  it  forms  a  constituent,  though  humble  chapter  in  the  his- 

tj^tory  of  the  early  Puritans  of  New  England. 

North  Branford,  Feb.  1860. 


EARLY  HISTORY  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 


HISTORY. 


It  is  among  the  first  duties  of  every  religious  community 
which  is  fortunate  enough  to  have  a  Past,  to  know  its  own 
history.  Some  of  God's  richest  mercies  to  a  given  generation 
will  be  found  to  have  had  their  earthly  germ  in  times  long 
past ;  and  the]  generation  consequently  which  is  not  familiar 
with  the  experience  of  its  predecessors,  can  have  at  the  best 
but  a  very  limited  and  imperfect  view  of  the  extent  of  God's 
goodness  to  itself.  Each  generation  as  it  appears  on  the 
earth  in  its  turn,  (and  especially  here  in  New  England,)  resem- 
bles in  an  important  respect  the  trees  which  beautify  its 
surface ;  its  roots — the  source  of  its  beauty  and  glory  and 
life — lie  buried  in  the  soil.  Whatever  there  may  be  in  the 
character  of  this  community  which  is.  worthy  to  be  perpetu- 
ated among  the  generations  to  come,  came,  under  God, 
mainly,  as  I  believe,  from  the  fathers  who  lie  buried  in  these 
adjacent  grounds. 

I  propose  then  to  trace  the  history  of  this  church  and  society, 
so  far  as  the  materials  for  such  a  history  are  still  accessible 
— from  its  earliest  days. 

The  religious  history  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  North 
Branford,  until  the  year  1701,  is  nearly  identical  with  that 
of  the  Congregational  church  of  Branford,  with  which  they 
were  originally  connected.  We  claim,  therefore,  a  common 
property,  and  feel  a  common  interest  in  all  that  pertains  to 
the  early  history  of  that  church.  The  outlines  of  that  his- 
tory, in  a  few  words,  may  properly  precede  such  matters  as 
relate  exclusively  to  ourselves. 

The  whole  region  included  in  the  ancient  limits  of 
the  Town  of  Branford,  was  granted  by  the  New  Haven 
Colony  to  Mr.  Samuel  Eaton,  in  the  year  1640,  under  the 
Indian  name  of  Totoket ;  a  name  which  is  still  retained  as 
a  designation  of  the  mountain  range  in  North  Branford. 
Mr.  Eaton  having  failed  to  fulfill  the  condition  of  the  grant, 
— which  was,  that  he  should  procure  a  number  of  his  friends 
in  England  within  a  specified  time,  to  settle  within  these 
limits, — the  Colony  afterward  sold  it  to  William  Swain  and 


6 

others  of  the  Town  of  Wethersfield ;  stipulating  that  they 
should  unite  themselves  with  the  New  Haven  Colony  in  all 
the  fundamental  articles  of  government.  They  immediately 
removed  to  Totoket  and  commenced  the  settlement  of  Bran- 
ford  in  1644.  The  reason  of  this  exodus  from  Wethersfield 
was,  the  existence  of  an  unhappy  division  among  the  early 
settlers  of  that  town.  By  the  advice  of  Rev.  John  Davenport 
and  others  of  New  Haven,  the  people  separated,  and  a  part  of 
them  removed  and  purchased  a  tract  of  land  in  Stamford,  of 
which  town  they  were  the  founders,  and  another  part,  as  I 
have  already  noticed,  removed  to  Branford.  Just  at  this 
period,  the  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson,  of  South  Hampton,  Long 
Island,  feeling  aggrieved,  with  many  of  his  people,  because 
that  town  had  put  itself  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Con- 
necticut Colony  instead  of  the  Colony  of  New  Haven,  re- 
moved to  Branford  and  united  with  Mr.  Swain  and  his  friends 
in  the  settlement  of  the  town.  Mr.  Pierson  was  soon  chosen 
to  the  pastorate  of  the  church,  being  the  first  who  held  that 
office  ;  and  was  assisted  for  a  time  by  a  Mr.  Brucy.  He 
was  installed  in  1644.  In  1665  he  removed  with  most  of  his 
people  in  a  body  from  Branford  to  Newark  N.  J.,  carrying 
with  him  the  original  records  of  the  church  and  town.  Not 
to  leave  this  allusion  to  rather  a  singular  event  in  our  early 
history,  unintelligible  to  those  who  are  not  familiar  with  its 
circumstances,  I  observe  very  briefly,  that  by  the  charter  of 
Charles  II.  the  New  Haven  Colony  was  incorporated  with  the 
Connecticut  Colony.  This  union  was  much  disrelished  and 
resisted  by  the  colony  of  New  Haven,  and  especially  by  the 
towns  New  Haven  aiid  Branford,  these  towns  holding  out  in 
their  opposition  for  some  time  after  Guilford,  Milford  and 
Stamford  had  assented  to  the  union.  Mr.  Pierson  and  his 
church  were  so  much  opposed  to  this  measure  that  they  almost 
all  removed  to  Newark  in  1665.  Branford  was,  in  conse- 
quence, almost  without  inhabitants,  and  entirely  without  a 
church  and  minister  for  twenty  years.  After  some  of  these 
years,  a  population  gradually  moved  in  from  other  parts,  and 
in  1685,  Branford  was  re-invested  with  town  privileges.  I 
will  add  but  a  single  remark  explanatory  in  some  measure  of 
the  opposition  of  the  New  Haven  Colony  to  a  union  with  that 
of  Connecticut.  It  was  a  fundamental  and  important  point 
in  the  government  of  the  New  Haven  Colony,  that  none  but 
members  of  the  church  should  be  elected  to  civil  office — a 
mistake  in  political  matters  certainly  not  more  pernicious  than 
that  of  more  recent  days,  in  which  piety  and  a  high  regard 
for  the  welfare  of  the  church  seem  often  to  amount  to  a 
virtual  disqualification  for  civil  office.  For  this  reason  and 
others,  New  Haven  Colony  objected  to  the  union. 


Omitting  to  notice  such  other  matters  as  pertain  exclusively 
to  the  history  of  Branford  and  its  church,  I  observe  that 
with  the  means  of  information  to  which  I  have  had  access,  the 
nearest  approximation  I  can  make  to  the  exact  date  at  which 
the  inhabitants  of  Branford  began  to  move  into  and  settle 
this,  then,  northern  part  of  the  town,  is  the  year  1680.  As 
the  population  began  to  be  numerous  enough  here  in  1701*  to 
have  occasional  worship  among  themselves,  especially  in  the 
winter  season,  it  is  evident  that  some  years  must  then  have 
elapsed  since  the  first  settlers  moved  into  this  region.  The 
year  brought  down  to  us  by  tradition  as  the  year  in  which 
the  settlement  of  this  region  began,  is  1680,  which  probably 
is  not  far  from  the  truth.  The  first  house  erected  within  the 
present  limits  of  North  Branford  according  to  the  tradition, 
was  built  by  Capt.  Jonathan  Rose,f  the  ancestor  of  the  Roses 
of  North  Branford,  near  the  house  now  occupied  by  Widow 
Hannah  Rose,  on  Hop-yard  Plain. 

From  that  period,  then,  or  somewhere  near  it,  down  to  the 
year  1701,  and  occasionally  till  1724,  the  first  settlers  of  this 
region,  then  called  the  North  Farms,  might  have  been  seen  on 
Sabbath  morning  making  their  way  to  church  along  the 
track  of  what  is  called  the  old  road  to  Branford,  to  attend 
public  worship  in  Town.  It  was  a  time  somewhat  like  the 
days  of  vShamgar  in  Israel,  when  men  travelled  by  "  walking 
through  crooked  by-ways  "  and  when,  indeed,  the  very  term 
employed  to  denote  travellers  was  (in  the  original)  "  walk- 
ers of  paths."  At  that  early  period  the  only  way  of  commu- 
nication between  the  North  Farms  and  the  Town,  was  along 
a  foot  path  through  the  forest,  so  narrow  that  none  but 
walkers  and  riders  on  horses  could  make  their  way.  With  a 
slight  assistance  from  the  imagination,  we  may  see  our 
worthy  sires  and  their  wives  on  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath, 
moving  onward  toward  the  settlement  with  becoming  gravity, 
on  saddles  and  pillions,  with  the  wallet  slung  between  them, 
to  carry  provisions  for  the  day — this  being  the  mode,  as  I  am 

*For  this  date  and  the  fact  here  asserted,  I  am  indebted  to  the  discoursa 
preached  by  Rev.  Timothy  P.  Gillett,  of  Branford,  on  the  last  occasion  of 
tlieir  meeting  for  worship  in  the  old  church. 

f  The  father  of  this  Jonathan  Rose,  was  Robert  Rose,  the  first  of  the  fam- 
ily who  came  to  this  country,  from  the  North  of  England.  He  was  one  of 
the  eight  individuals  who  owned  originally  the  township  of  Branford, — 
Tradition  reports  that  he  owned  ten  cows  (besides  sixty  horses)  at  a  time 
when  there  were  not  ten  more  in  all  Braniord,  and  that  the  Sunday^s  milking 
was  always  given  to  the  poor.  The  bible  he  brought  with  him  from  Eng- 
land, printed  in  1599,  is  still  extant,  in  the  possession  of  Widow  Hannah 
Rose,  and  has  been  in  its  time,  the  property  of  three  or  four  deacons  of  the 
Rose  family. 


8 

informed,  in  which  all  riders  made  their  way  to  church.     At 

that  time,  the  land  now  covered  in  part  by  this  church  and 

occupied  as  a  place  of  burial,  was  thickly  covered  with  trees, 

and  what  is  now  the  main  road  that  passes  the  church,  was 

a  simple  foot-path  of  the  kind  described.     It  was  a  time,  too, 

in  which  the  wallet  was  not  the  only  "life  preserver"  needed 

on   the  way  to   church.     There  were  beasts  of  prey  and 

Indians  nearly  as  wild,  to  be  guarded  against,  and  the  gun 

with  its  deadly  contents  was  considered  by  some,  a  necessary 

accompaniment  of  the  ride  to  church.     Indeed,,  so  serious  an 

undertaking  was  it  in  the  beginning  for  some  of  the  earliest 

settlers  in  these  North  Farms  who  lived  two  miles  above  us 

to  the  North  East,  to  reach  the  sanctuary  in  Town  and 

return  again  without  being  lost,  that  they  found  it  necessary 

on  the  first  occasion  of  their  going  down  to  carry  an  axe,  and 

blaze  the  trees  that  they  might  keep  the  path  on  their  return. 

Whoever  travels  over  the  same  two  miles  of  road  now  and 

wonders  at  its  serpentine  and  hilly  course,  may  reflect,  with 

some  consolation  and  profit,  that  it  was  originally  laid  out  as 

a  road  to  the  sanctuary,  and  that  our  church-going  fathers 

wisely  preferred  crossing  the  hills  to  passing  the  swamp  and 

the  thicket. 

These  resolute  men  and  women  of  that  day,  evidently 
prized  the  ministrations  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Russel,  who  was 
at  that  time  Pastor  of  the  flock. 

Beginning  at  length  to  experience  the  inconvenience  of 
so  long  and  difficult  a  journey  to  the  sanctuary,  especially  in 
the  winter,  they  were  permitted  after  they  became  suffi- 
ciently numerous,  about  the  year  1701,  to  have  occasional 
preaching  among  themselves ;  which  was  probably  held  in 
the  school  house,  (or  perhaps  in  some  private  dwelling.) 

In  the  year  1722  we  find  the  first  entry  in  the  town  records 
respecting  what  is  called  "  the  North  Society."  On  the  27th. 
of  Sept.  in  that  year,  a  Parsonage  lot  is  purchased  by  the 
Town  for  the  use  of  this  Society ;  whence  we  gather  that 
the  community  here  are  now  beginning  to  mature  towar^  an 
ecclesiastical  distinctness.  A  purchase  of  lands  on  Indian  Neck 
had  been  made  of  the  Indians  as  early  as  July  30,  1685,  for 
the  support  of  the  ministry  in  said  town  forever.  These 
Parsonage  lands  were  equitably  divided  beween  what  was 
then  called  the  South  and  the  North  societies,  on  the  8th  of 
Oct.,  1722. 

On  the  12th  of  May,  1724,  the  Town  voted  to  build  "a 
meeting  house  "  (we  use  the  term  employed  by  our  fathers, 
without  holding  ourselves  responsible  for  the  propriety  and 
good  taste  of  the  same)  in  the  North  Farms.  In  the  words 
of  the  record,  it  was  "  voted  that  the  whole  Town  would  as 


9 

one,  in  respect  that  they  are  numerous,  so  that  one  meeting 
house  is  not  sufficient  to  contain  them,  build  another  meeting 
house  jointly  and  settle  another  minister,  and  maintain  each 
of  them  by  one  rate  ;"  whence  it  appears  that  what  are  called 
the  North  and  South  societies  were  still  blended  in  their  in- 
terests, and  that  their  affairs  are  managed  by  the  Town. — 
Three  distinct  sites  having  been  proposed  for  the  new  meet- 
ing house,  it  was  decided  by  vote  to  locate  it  "  on  the  knoll  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river,  at  the  place  near  Samuel  Harrison's." 
The  spot  designated  by  these  words  was  that  occupied 
accordingly,  as  you  all  know,  by  what  we  call  the  old  meet- 
ing house,  which  stood  within  a  few  feet  of  this  to  the  south, 
and  stood  till  this  was  nearly  completed.  The  town  meeting 
at  which  this  vote  was  passed,  was  warned  by  Lieut.  Thos. 
Harrison  and  Joseph  Morris,  Nathaniel  Harrison  being 
Moderator.  Isaac  Foot,  Lieut.  Rose,  John  Harrison,  Daniel 
Barker  and  Josiah  Rogers,*  were  the  committee  appointed  by 
the  town  to  superintend  the  building  of  the  house. 

About  six  months  after  this,  the  Town  revoked  their  agree- 
ment to  support  both  ministers  by  one  rate,  and  then,  in  1724, 
this  ecclesiastical  society  of  North  Branford  was  fully  or- 
ganized, and  assumed  the  entire  support  of  its  own  minister.  ' 

By  an  entry  on  the  records  of  "  the  Branford  Society," 
which  likewise  begins  now  its  own  proper  existence  as  distinct 
from  the  Tovv^n,  it  appears  that  they  had  at  this  time  "just 
begun   to   have  a  minister   among  themselves   in   the   North 
Society."     It  is  then  126  years  since  this  people  began  to 
enjoy   the  labors  of  a  minister  of  their  own,  and  about  149 
years,  (nearly  a  century  and  a  half,)  since  meetings  for  relig- 
ious  worship   were   first   held   within   the   limits   of  North 
Branford.    Who   this   first   minister   was,  who   supplied  the 
pulpit  in  the  outset  before  they  had  a  settled  Pastor,  we  have 
no  means  of  knowing.     The  Rev.  Jonathan  Merick  was  the 
first  pastor   of  the  church  ;   but  his  ordination  took  place  tv/o 
years  after  this  date.     It  is  possible  that  he  supplied  the  pul- 
pi*  .durmg  these  two  years,  but  more  probable  that  one  or 
more  preceded  him  before  the  society  was  in  a  condition  to 
call  a  minister  for  settlement.     The  old  meeting  house  was 
framed,  erected  and  covered  the  same  year,  and  began  to  be 
used,  but  was  not  entirely    finished  for  seven  or  eight  years 
afterward — as  I  find  on  our  society  records,  that  in  the  year 
1732,  Capt.  Jonathan  Rose  and  Isaac  Baldwin,  were  chosen  a 
committee  to  finish  the  gallery  of  the  house.     The  dimensions 


*  This  Josiah  Rojjers,  the  ancestor  of  the  Rogerses  of  North  Branford,  was 
a  lineal  descendant  of  the  5th  generation  from  John  Rogers,  who  was 
buriii  by  the  Roman  Catholics  at  Smithfield,  in  1554. 

2 


10 

of  the  house  were  45  by  35  feet.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Russell 
came  up  and  offered  prayer  at  the  erection  of  the  frame,  and 
an  accident  occurred  at  the  time,  which,  but  for  the  marked 
favor  of  Providence,  must  have  been  fatal  to  several.  One 
of  the  heavy  upright  beams,  (and  beams  in  those  days  were 
heavy,)  fell  from  its  position  into  the  midst,  as  it  seemed,  of  the 
people,  but  by  a  kind  Providence,  without  hitting  or  injuring 
any. 

As  the  records  kept  b}^  the  Rev.  Mr.  Merick  are  unfortu- 
nately lost,  we  have  not  the  exact  date  of  the  distinct  organ- 
ization of  this  church,  though  it  is  highly  probable  that  this 
took  place  in  the  same  year,  1724^  about  the  time  of  the 
organization  of  the  Society.  Thus  a  formal  separation  has 
at  length  been  effected  from  the  church  in  Branford,  in  a 
spirit  mutually  amicable — a  spirit  which  we  have  reason  to 
believe  has  descended  from  generation  to  generation,  and 
which  still  exists  between  the  two  churches. 

Before  entering  upon  the  history  of  Mr.  Merick's  ministry, 
I  would  make  a  single  remark  in  relation  to  the  old  burying 
place  adjacent  to  this  church.  When  the  stones  were  taken 
up  in  1848,  to  be  placed  in  a  safer  position,  the  oldest  stone 
was  one  that  recorded  the  death  of  Isaac  Bartholomew,  in 
1727.  From  a  tradition  that  has  come  down  very  directly 
from  Aaron  Baldwin,  (a  son  of  Dea.  Israel  Baldwin,*  one  of 
the  first  settlers,)  it  is  evident  that  this  must  have  been  one  of 
the  first  graves,  if  not  the  first ;  and  consequently  that  this 
ground  began  to  be  appropriated  as  a  place  of  burial  about 
the  year  1727. 

Till  the  year  1726,  this  people  seem  not  to  have  been  in  a 
condition  to  have  a  settled  minister  among  them.  In  this 
year,  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Merick,  their  first  pastor,  was 
ordained  over  them.  He  was  born  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  in 
the  year  1700,  and  was  consequently  26  years  of  age  at  the 
commencement  of  his  ministry.  His  house  was  framed  at  the 
expense  of  the  Town,  at  the  time  the  frame  was  made  for  the 
old  church,  and  was  erected  soon  after.  According  to  the 
tradition  which  has  descended  among  us,  Mr.  Merick  was  a 
man  of  decision  and  energy,  generally  accomplishing  what- 
ever he  undertook.  From  his  word  there  seemed  to  be  but 
little  disposition  among  his  people  to  take  any  appeal.  He 
was  beloved  and  respected  among  them  as  is  tolerably  evident 
from  the  length  of  his  ministry  here,  which  was  forty  three 
years.  He  owned  and  cultivated  an  extensive  farm  in 
connection  with  the  discharge  of  his  ministry,  as  was  not  an 

*  The  ancestor  of  the  Baldwins  of  North  Branford,  was  George  Baldwin, 
who  moved  into  Branford  a  few  years  after  its  desertion,  from  Milford. 


11 

uncommon  custom  at  that  day — the  same  farm  which  is  still 
in  possession  of  the  family  which  have  inherited  his  name. 
His  ministry  ceased  in  1769,  in  consequence  of  a  paralysis, 
which  incapacitated  him  for  its  duties.  The  last  public  act 
of  his  life  was  to  preside  as  Moderator  of  a  church  meeting 
held  Feb.  23,  1769,  to  appoint  the  day  for  the  ordination  of 
his  successor,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Eells.  His  signature  appears 
for  the  last  and  now  the  only  time  on  our  church  records,  as 
Moderator  of  that  meeting.  He  lived  till  the  27th  of  June, 
1772,  when,  at  the  age  of  72,  he  died  and  was  buried  among 
his  own  people,  a  few  feet  east  of  this  edifice.  The  inscription 
on  his  grave-stone  is  as  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  present 
generation  as  it  was  of  that  generation  to  whom  it  was  par- 
ticularly addressed.  "  Remember  them  that  have  spoken 
unto  you  the  word  of  God."  There  is  one  individual  still 
living  who  attended  upon  Mr.  Merick's  ministry  and  remem- 
bers his  personal  appearance — Mr.  Ebenezer  Russell,  91  years 
of  age.  He  informed  me  that  Mr.  M.  was  a  man  of  large 
and  commanding  stature,  and  wore  one  of  the  large  old 
fashioned  wio^s. 

During  the  ministry  of  Merick,  until  the  year  1745,  the 
people  residing  in  what  is  now  the  northern  part  of  North 
Branford,  and  the  society  of  Northford,  attended  public 
worship  in  this  place,  and  constituted  part  of  this  church  and 
society.  Having  become  at  this  time  sufficiently  numerous 
and  able,  they  were  set  off  as  a  distinct  society  by  the 
General  Assembly  in  the  session  of  that  year.  For  a  while 
after  the  old  burial-place  was  appropiated,  they  likewise 
buried  their  dead  in  this  place.  In  the  days  of  Mr.  Merick, 
and  for  some  time  after  him,  the  settlement  here  was  designa- 
ted by  the  name  of  "  the  village," — a  term  worthy  to  be  re- 
vived again  for  the  fathers'  sakes,  as  well  as  its  own,  and  far 
preferable,  as  it  seems  to  me,  to  the  foreign  name  which  has 
somehow  usurped  its  place. 

The  first  deacon  of  this  church  was  Benjamin  Barnes — a 
man  distinguished  alike  for  his  piety  and  his  poverty.*     An- 


*  An  incident  which  will  serve  to  illustrate  his  reputation  for  poverty  and 
the  cheerful  submission  he  felt  under  this  allotment,  is  preserved  in  an  anec- 
dote which  has  descended  respecting  him.  Meeting  on  a  certain  occasion 
one  of  his  wealthier  neighbors,  Mr.  Timothy  Harrison,  Deac.  Barnes  was 
noticed  to  have  his  pocket  knife  in  his  hand.  After  a  little  pleasant  conver- 
sation together,  Deac.  Barnes  observed  in  a  good  humored  tone,  that  he 
carried  his  knife  about  in  his  hand  because  he  was  too  poor  to  have  a  pocket. 

All  else  that  is  known  respecting  him  is,  that  the  cellar  of  his  humble 
dwelling  is  still  visible  on  "Bare Plain,"  near  the  spring  which  supplies  the 
aqueduct  of  the  main  street  of  that  district.  I  may  add  here,  that  I  have 
spelled  the  name  of  this  Plain,  Bare  instead  of  Bearf  (which  is  sometimes 


12 

other  of  the  deacons  who  officiated  during  Mr.  Merick's 
ministry  was  Israel  Baldw^in,  who  w^as  one  of  the  original  inhab- 
itants of  North  Branford.  He  w^as  found  dead  some  lime  in 
the  year  1765,  on  "the  Great  Hill,"  alone,  with  his  horse  tied 
to  the  tree  under  which  he  lay.  His  death  was  evidently  a 
natui'al  one,  though  he  seems  to  have  died  very  suddenly.  An- 
other of  Mr.  Merick's  early  deacons  was  Daniel  Page,'  one  of 
the  original  settlers  of  this  region,  and  the  first  of  the  name 
who  came  here,  who  resided  near  the  summit  of  Sibbies' 
Hill.*  He  died  in  1766.  Ithiel  Russell  and  Barnabas  Mul- 
ford  w^ere  the  deacons  of  the  church  in  the  last  days  of  Mr. 
Merick,  and  the  first  days  of  Mr.  Eells's  ministry.  Deacon 
Russell  was  the  representative  of  the  church  in  the  council 
that  ordained  Mr.  Eells.  He  retired  to  rest  in  good  health  in 
the  evening  of  March  25,  1772,  and  was  found  dead  in  his 
bed  on  the  next  morning. f 

During  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Merick,  the  mode  of  conducting 
religious  w^orship,  especially  in  the  department  of  praise,  w^as 
quite  different  from  the  mode  of  the  present  day.  We  find 
that  from  1732,  and  for  several  years  thereafter,  an  individual 
was  annually  chosen  by  the  society  as  "clerk,"  whose  office 
w^as  to  "  read  and  tune  the  PsalmV'  Jonathan  Butler,  Jun., 
was  the  first  appointed  to  this  office  ;  and  by  vote  of  the  so- 
ciety he  was  "  seated  in  the  second  seat" — which  I  judge  to 
have  been  a  seat  of  honor  from  the  fact  that  it  seems  to  have 
been  assisgned  to  men  of  military  rank  in  the  congregation. 
Abiel  Linsley  and  Abraham  Whedon  were  his  immediate 
successors  in  this  office.     There  seems  to   have  been   some 


adopted.)  for  the  following  reason.  The  Indians  having  been  long  accus- 
tomed to  burn  over  this  piece  of  ground  annually  to  make  it  a  good  hunting 
ground  for  deer,  when  the  first  settlers  began  to  build  upon  this  Plain,  it  was 
found  to  be  almost  entirely  bare  of  trees  and  of  all  vegetation.  I  am  informed 
likewise,  what  would  not  now  be  easily  credited,  that  when  it  was  first 
surveyed,  the  whole  tract  was  not  considered  of  sufficient  value  to  be  worth 
recording.  The  most  reasonable  conjecture  then  is,  that  the  name  of  the 
Plain  was  not  derived  originally,  as  some  have  supposed,  from  a  beast  of  prey, 
but  from  the  fact  that  the  land  was  originally  bare  of  vegetation.  The 
venerable  and  majestic  oak  which  stands  in  the  street  near  the  middle  of  the 
Plain,  from  the  tradition  which  has  descended  respecting  it,  dates  its  origin 
much  farther  back  in  the  past  than  the  earliest  settlements  in  this  region, 
and  probably  often  refreshed  with  its  shade  the  wild  hunters  of  this  region. 

*  The  name  given  to  this  hill  was  originally  connected  with  a  Spring, 
still  called  "  Sibbie's  Spring,"  on  the  homestead  of  Widow  Augustus  Russell. 
It  Avas  the  name  of  a  petty  Indian  Sachem,  (under  Kishonk,  the  Sachem  on 
Indian  Neck,)  who  was  the  chief  over  the  Indians  of  this  neighborhood.— 
The  spot  on  which  they  had  their  wigwams  is  still  to  be  seen  a  little  south 
of  «  Goshen  Pond." 

fSee  Appendix.  B. 


13 

difference  of  opinion  in  the  congregation  as  to  the  proper 
mode  of  conducting  this  part  of  worship,  as  the  society  voted, 
in  1735,  that  "the clerk  have  Hberty  to  tune  the  Psalm  which 
way  he  jyleasethP 

It  would  be  a  matter  of  some  interest  doubtless  to  you,  had 
we  a  list  of  the  names  of  those  who  were  first  ors^anized  into 
a  church  in  this  "  village,"  and  who' constituted  Mr.  Merick's 
original  flock,  and  were  among  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  this 
place.  This  list  of  names,  with  other  things,  doubtless,  which 
it  might  interest  us  to  know,  being  unfortunately  lost  with 
the  records  kept  by  Mr.  Merick,  I  have  appended,  at  the  end 
of  this  historical  sketch,  a  list  recorded  by  Mr  .Eells  at  the 
commencement  of  his  ministry  in  1769,  of  those  who  consti- 
tuted the  church  at  that  time.*  As  45  years  only  had  elapsed 
at  that  time  since  the  organization  of  the  church,  it  is  highly 
probable,  if  not  certain,  that  the  oldest  members  were  among 
the  number  of  those  first  organized  into  a  church. 

Probably  there  are  few,  if  any  communities  in  the  State,  in 
which  so  large  a  portion  of  the  present  generation  of  residents 
are  the  direct  descendants  of  the  original  settlers  of  the  soil.  If 
we  have  not  more  of  the  Puritan  spirit  and  principles  than 
any  other  community,  it  certainly  is  not  because  we  have  not 
been  favored  with  peculiar  advantages  for  their  preservation. 

It  is  one  of  the  pleasant  circumstances  we  have  to  contem- 
plate in  the  history  of  the  first  generation  of  men  who  settled 
New  England,  and  one  of  no  little  miportance  to  us,  that  they 
were  generally  a  generation  of  godly  men,  who,  in  founding 
these  towns  and  villages,  made  it  their  first  care  to  provide 
for  their  religious  and  educational  welfare,  and  that  of  their 
descendants.  It  is  a  peculiar  and  significant  fact,  that  the  early 
history  of  these  towns  is,  to  a  great  extent,  an  ecclesiastical 
history.  The  church  was  the  nucleus  around  which  the  town 
formed  itself,  and  the  spirit  of  religion  was  the  spirit  which,  to 
a  great  extent,  animated  and  controlled  the  town  in  its  first 
public  acts,  and  gave  complexion  to  its  history.  They 
brought  the  ministry  and  all  the  institutions  of  religion  with 
them,  and  maintained  them  from  the  begining,  (without  aid 
from  any  Foreign  or  Home  Missionary  Society,)  with  a  self- 
denial,  and  a  firmness  of  principle  truly  admirable,  and  worthy 
of  all  imitation.  They  did  not  flock  hither  because  lands 
w^ere  cheap  or  fertile,  or  because  New  England  was  a  country 
»of  great  water  power,  which  could  be  turned  to  the  advantage 
of  their  secular  interests.  They  did  not  come  to  find  money 
or  to  make  it,  (though  their  descendants  certainly  have  not 
been  unsuccessful  in  the  latter  particular.)     They  came  to 

*See  Appendix,  C. 


]4 

worship  God  in  peace — "  seeking  his  kingdom"  as  it  should 
be  sought  by  every  emigrant,  "  first "  of  all,  first  for  them- 
selves, and  first  for  their  posterity.  In  their  thoughts,  Eter- 
nity w^as  first  and  greatest,  and  Time,  to  them,  derived  all  its 
significance  from  its  bearings  on  that  Eternity.  These  Col- 
onies were,  for  the  greatest  part,  self-supporting  Missions. 
Such  men  as  these  are  not  to  be  forgotten.  These  "  days  of 
old  and  these  years  of  many  generations,"  ought  to  considered 
by  us  and  by  every  succeeding  generation ;  and  the  spirit  of 
these  men  should  be  kept  alive  as  long  as  their  blood  and 
their  names  descend  among  men. 

The  immediate  successor  of  Mr.  Merick  was  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Eells,  son  of  Rev.  Edward  Eells  of  Middletown.  He 
was  born  in  that  place,  Jan  13,  1745,  and  was  ordained  over 
this  church  on  the  29th  dav  of  March,  1769.  The  8th  of 
March  had  been  observed  as  a  day  of  Fasting  and  Prayer 
with  reference  to  the  ordination,  and  two  sermons  were 
preached  on  the  occasion  ;  one  by  the  Rev.  Philemon  Robbins 
of  Branford,  and  the  other  by  the  Rev.  Warham  Williams  of 
Northford.     An  ordination  in  those  davs  of  old  was  an  occa- 

ft/ 

sion  of  great  solemnity  and  importance,  and  one  for  which 
our  fathers  endeavored  to  make  suitable  preparation  by  spend- 
ing a  whole  day  in  Fasting  and  Prayer.  The  sermon  at  the 
ordination  was  preached  by  the  father  of  Mr.  Eells. 

Mr.  Eells  had  a  "  settlement "  at  the  time  of  his  ordination, 
of  two  hundred  pounds,  besides  materials  for  building  a  house 
and  barn. 

He  was  a  man  of  much  native  humor  and  vivacity,  and  had 
a  faculty  of  easily  adapting  himself  to  those  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact ;  being  always  a  welcome  guest  at  every 
fire-side.  He  succeeded  better  than  many  in  interesting  the 
children  and  youth  in  his  flock  in  himself  and  his  instructions. 
His  services  on  funeral  occasions,  especially,  both  his  pray- 
ers and  his  remarks,  were  always  happy,  being  well  adapted 
to  the  circumstances  of  each  case  ;  his  native  susceptibility 
and  sympathy  enabling  him  to  weep  with  those  who  wept,  as 
well  as  to  rejoice  with  those  who  rejoiced.  Being  a  man  of 
much  versatility  of  talent,  he  practiced  to  some  extent  among 
his  own  people  as  a  physician  for  the  body  as  well  as  a 
watchman  for  souls.  From  one  incident  in  his  life  which  has 
been  preserved  in  the  memories  of  his  people,  it  would  seem 
that  he  was  likewise  capable,  as  necessity  required,  of  wield- 
ing either  carnal  or  spiritual  weapons.  His  ministry  em- 
braced the  trying  and  eventful  period  of  our  revolutionary 
struggle.  On  one  occasion  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1777, 
when  Washington  was  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  his  whole 
force  not  amounting  to  more  than  fifteen  hundred  men,  he 


15 

called  upon  the  people  of  Connecticut  to  send  down,  with  all 
dispatch,  their  quota  of  troops.  The  intelligence  of  this  re- 
quisition arrived  in  this  place  on  the  Sabbath,  while  the  people 
were  engaged  in  public  worship.  Considering  this  to  be  one 
of  those  works  of  necessity  which  might  properly  receive  the 
attention  of  his  people  on  the  Sabbath,  Mr.  Eells  communicated 
the  important  intelligence  from  the  pulpit,  and  requested  at 
once  that  those  who  were  willing  and  ready  to  go  forth  on 
this  important  misssion,  should  parade  on  the  green  in  front  of 
the  meeting  house,  immediately  after  service.  The  able  bod- 
ied men  of  this  society  made  a  ready  response  to  this  unexpect- 
ed summons.  At  the  conclusion  of  service,  a  line  was 
promptly  formed  on  the  green,  and  principally  through  the 
agency  and  energy  of  Lieut.  Samuel  Baldwin,  a  company 
was  organized.  This  company,  including  its  officers,  consist- 
ed finally  of  60  men,  a  portion  of  whom  belonged  to  the  so- 
cieties of  Branford  and  of  Northford.  The  command  of  it  be- 
longed of  right  to  Lieut.  Baldwin,  who  with  great  expedition 
had  succeded  in  gathering  it  together  in  a  short  time.  But 
Lieut.  B.  courteously  waved  his  right  in  favor  of  his  own 
minister,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Eells  was  accordingly  chosen 
to  the  Captaincy  (not  Chaplaincy  !)  of  the  body.  Mr.  Eells 
seemed  to  prefer  being  in  a  position  in  which  he  could  say  to 
his  people  "  come,  follow,"  instead  of  standing  at  a  safer  post 
in  which  he  could  only  exhort  them  to  "  go."  *  Whether  it 
would  or  would  not  have  been  better  on  all  accounts  had  Mr. 
Eells  declined  this  evidence  of  the  confidence  and  respect  of 
the  company,  and  continued  to  wield  his  spiritual  weapons  in 
behalf  of  his  country,  whether  he  acted  rightly  in  this  or  not, 
is  a  question  I  am  not  required  to  decide. 

The  moral  aspect  of  war,  in  his  day,  was  contemplated 
from  a  very  different  stand-point  from  that  in  which  the  min- 
isters of  the  Prince  of  Peace  have  since  begun  to  contemplate 
the  same  subject.  That  war  besides  was  a  war  of  defense 
and  not  of  conquest ;  it  was  a  war  to  preserve  what  was  dear 
to  our  fathers,  and  not  a  war  to  destroy  the  liberties  or  infringe 
the  just  rights  of  another  people  ;  it  was  a  war  that  had  gen- 
erally the  prayers  and  the  countenance  of  the  Congregational 
ministry,  and  why,  thought  Mr.  Eells,  should  it  not  have  my 
agency  in  a  time  of  need  ? 

We  may  discern  in  this  incident,  something  of  the  same 
spirit  which  dictated  the  advice  once  given  by  Cromwell  to 
his  praying  soldiery  on  the  eve  of  an  important  battle  waged 
in  the  same  general  cause.  The  weather  was  damp  and  rainy, 
and  much  depended  on  the  care  that  should  be  taken  by  his 


*  See  Appendix,  D. 


16 

men  to  preserve  their  powder  in  a  dry  and  serviceable  state. 
Cromwell's  charge  to  his  men  on  that  occasion  was  brief  and 
comprehensive.  "  Pray,"  said  he,  "  and  mind  and  keep  your 
powder  dry  !"  Be  sure  and  seek  God's  help — but  do  all  you 
can  to  help  yourselves.  Prayer  and  wet  powder  can  not  be 
expected  to  be  of  much  avail.  Mr.  Eells  doubtless  prayed  for 
his  country,  and  then  did  what  he  could  to  help  her.  To  his 
own  Master  he  standeth  or  falleth.  Fortunately,  he  and  his 
company  had  no  occasion  to  proceed  to  the  extremities  of  war, 
and  he  returned  without  having  killed  anybody. 

From  what  I  have  been  able  to  learn  from  his  own  people 
and  their  immediate  descendants,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for 
no  small  portion  of  what  I  have  to  communicate  respecting 
him,  he  appears  to  have  been  a  man  who,  while  not  deficient 
in  grace,  (certainly  not  destitute  of  it,  we  hope,)  retained  a 
good  share  of  nature,  and  that  not  of  the  worst,  nor  of  an  un- 
interesting character.  Grace  did  not  impair  his  own  individ- 
uality. He  was  natural  and  true  to  himself  in  all  he  did  and 
said.  In  the  words  of  the  concluding  portion  of  the  inscrip- 
tion upon  his  grave  stone,  he  was  likewise  "  a  lover  oi  good 
men,  given  to  hospitality,  gentle  towards  all ;"  in  which  re- 
spects all  his  successors  may  well  imitate  his  example. 

During  his  ministry,  this  church,  in  common  with  many 
others,  adopted  what  was  called  "  the  half-way  covenant ;"  a 
regulation  by  which  individuals  in  the  congregation,  who  had 
arrived  at  adult  years  without  the  seal  of  baptism,  were  per- 
mitted to  be  baptized  upon  their  professing  the  faith  of  the 
gospel  and  being  free  from  public  scandal,  without  coming  to 
full  communion  with  the  church ;  that  is,  without  participa- 
ting in  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ;  and  by  which  like- 
wise they  were  permitted  to  have  baptism  administered  to 
their  children.  This  practice,  I  should  judge,  grew  out  of  a 
lingering  Popish  and  superstitious  regard  for  the  ordinance  of 
baptism,  which  had  not  entirely  vanished  from  the  minds  of 
that  generation.  It  was  a  measure  which  proved,  in  the  end, 
a  fruitful  source  of  corruption  and  of  contention  in  the  church, 
and  was  at  length  universally  abandoned.  Whether,  however, 
this  superstitious  regard  for  the  ordinance  of  baptism  was  worse 
in  its  consequences  than  the  prevailing  disregard  and  low  es- 
timate of  this  ordinance  among  the  church  members  of  this 
generation,  is  a  question  that  can  not  yet  be  very  well  de- 
termined. Mr.  Eells,  I  am  informed,  was  never  satisfied  of  the 
propriety  nor  expediency  of  this  measure.  His  own  convic- 
tions were  against  it. 

We  noticed,  that  during  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Merick,  an  in- 
dividual was  annually  appointed  by  the  society,  whose  office 
it  was  to  "  read  and  tune  the  Psalm."     It  is  a  matter  of  some 


17  . 

interest  to  trace  the  progress  made  in  this  branch  of  worship 
under  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Eells. 

In  1770,  we  have  a  notice  of  the  appointment  of  "  two  chor- 
isters," William  Wheadon  and  Ithiel  Russell  being  appointed 
to  this  office.  Five  years  after  this,  we  have  the  first  notice 
of  a  "  singing  master  "  and  a  "  singing  school " — an  evidence 
of  a  rising  appreciation  of  this  part  of  worship.  Nine  years 
after  this,  in  1784,  we  find  a  body  of  "  singers"  in  existence, 
who  are  seated  by  vote  in  "  the  front  seats  of  the  gallery." 
This  vote  was  regularly  renewed  from  year  to  year  for  a 
number  of  years.  In  1792,  we  learn  of  "the  Musical  Society 
of  North  Branford,"  and  a  sum  of  money  is  appropriated  frorn 
the  Society's  treasury  to  procure  books  for  that  Society.  In 
1799,  the  singers  are  allowed  to  receive  ten  dollars  a  year,  as 
the  vote  stands,  "  in  case  they  sing." 

The  generation  that  may  be  found  here  fifty  years  hence, 
will  probably  find  by  looking  back  to  our  times,  notice  of  an 
"  organ,"  and  that  in  1849-50,  the  singers  here  felt  sufficient  in- 
terest in  sacred  music  to  sustain  a  singing  school  and  pur- 
chase books  at  their  own  expense  ;  and  they  will  observe  toOj, 
that  the  art  of  singing  began  to  be  sufficiently  appreciated  in 
our  day  to  be  introduced  into  some  of  the  High  and  Common 
Schools  of  our  State.  This  branch  of  worship,  I  will  take  the 
liberty  to  add,  will  not  have  reached  its  highest  perfection  in 
our  churches,  until  the  congregation,  as  a  body,  qualify  them- 
selves to  unite  vocally  in  this  part  of  our  worship,  under  the 
lead  and  guidance,  of  course,  of  a  well-trained  choir. 

In  the  year  1789,  I  find  on  the  society  records,  a  phrase 
which  I  did  not  at  once  fully  comprehend.  Mention  is  made 
of  a  committee  appointed  to  "  dignify  the  pews."  As  this  was 
the  day  when  the  congregation  were  seated  by  vote  accor- 
ding to  their  "  dignity  "  or  rank,  I  conclude  that  the  office  of 
this  committee  was  to  determine  the  degree  of  dignity  or  im- 
portance which  should  be  attached  to  each  pew  ;  so  that  the 
higher  and  lower  dignitaries,  civil,  military  and  musical,  might 
all  be  accommodated  according  to  the  degree  of  dignity 
which  they  might  possess — a  matter,  we  should  suppose,  of 
some  delicacy  and  difficulty,  at  least  it  might  be  found  so  in 
these  republican  days,  when  every  man  has  become  a  "  sove- 
reign," not  only  in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  but  in  his  own  esti- 
mation. 

Mr.  Eells  closed  a  ministry  of  39  years  in  this  place,  by 
death,  April  3d,  1808,  at  the  age  of  63.  His  remains  sleep  in 
the  dust  by  the  side  of  his  immediate  predecessor,  and  in  the 
midst  of  most  of  the  generation  which  constituted  his  flock. 
The  church  at  the  time  of  his  settlement  consisted  of  seventy 
seven  members.     The  number  received  to  "full  communion" 

3 


'18 

during  his  ministry  was  104  ;  the  largest  number  received  in 
any  one  year  was  twelve.  I  may  add  here,  that  I  have  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  possession  of  the  most  legible  of  his  ser- 
mons, together  with  a  few  of  his  books,  and  his  commission  as 
Captain  of  the  military  company,  signed  by  Jonathan  Trum- 
bull, and  dated  at  Middletown,  Jan  14,  1777,  and  likewise  his 
"  muster  roll,"  and  have  appropriated  to  their  preservation,  a 
closet  in  the  Parsonage. 

Closing  here  my  account  of  the  life  and  times  of  Mr.  Eells, 
we  come  next  to  the  confines  of  more  modern  times,  the  days 
of  his  immediate  successor  in  the  pastoral  office,  the  Rev. 
Charles  Atwater. 

Mr.  Atwater,  son  of  Jeremiah  Atwater,  a  merchant  in  New 
Haven,  was  born  in  that  city  on  the  18th  of  Aug.,  1786.  He 
was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1805,  studied  theology  un- 
der Pres.  Dwight,  and  was  ordained  over  this  church  March 
1st,  1809.  The  sermon  on  the  occasion  was  preached  by  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Merwin,  of  New  Haven.  Mr.  Atwater  was  a 
man  of  rather  a  commanding  figure,  erect  and  portly,  and  as 
a  speaker,  had  a  clear  and  powerful  voice.  The  impression  he 
left  of  himself  in  the  minds  of  his  people,  was  that  of  a  man  of 
sincere  piety  and  truly  devoted  to  his  work.  He  was  accept- 
able and  successful  as  a  preacher.  His  ministry,  and  espec- 
ially the  year  1821,  was  signalized  by  a  very  extensive  relig- 
ious awakening,  such  as  this  people  had  never  before  experi- 
enced ;  the  fruits  of  which  appear  on  our  records,  in  the  ad- 
dition of  45  members  to  the  church.  The  whole  number  of 
members  received  during  his  ministry  was  96.  He  is  still  re- 
membered by  many  with  that  peculiar  affection  which  is  al- 
ways felt  and  always  will  be,  by  a  new-born  soul  toward  its 
own  spiritual  father.  His  pastorship  of  16  years  terminated 
in  death,  Feb.  21,  1825,  at  the  vigorous  age  of  39  ;  and  his  re- 
mains repose  by  the  side  of  those  of  his  predecessors  in  the 
pastoral  office.*  Thus,  as  we  have  seen,  the  first  three  Pas- 
tors of  this  church,  whose  united  labors  filled  a  century,  died 
at  their  first  post  of  duty,  and  among  their  own  people — a 
privilege,  and  I  may  say  an  honor,  of  rare  enjoyment  in  these 
later  days  of  change. 

*  During  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Atwater,  an  Episcopal  church  was  organized 
in  this  society,  which  afterwards  erected  a  neat  and  substantial  church  edi- 
fice. 


19 

It  was  my  original  intention  to  close  this  historical  sketch 
at  the  period  we  have  now  reached,  confining  it  strictly  to 
the  earlier  period  of  our  history,  and  leaving  the  history  of 
this  church  during  the  ministry  of  its  still  surviving  Pastors, 
to  be  traced  by  §ome  other  hand,  after  a  sufficient  time  had 
elapsed  to  surround  the  events  of  this  subsequent  period  with 
more  historic  interest.     This  intention  I  have  been  induced 
to  change  only  so  far  as  to  present  the  names  of  succeeding 
Pastors  and  the  important  dates  in  their  period  of  labor,  with 
a  few  of  the  important  events  in  their  ministry.     I  may  here, 
however,  briefly  premise,  that  we  have  now  reached,  in  the 
course  of  our  narrative,  the  confines  of  an  era  in  the  history 
of  our  churches  and  ministers,  diflfering  essentially  from  the 
times  we  have  been  contemplating.     Up  to  this  period,  the 
ministry  of  our  churches  was  generally  a  permanent  ministry, 
and  the  ties  which  bound  Pastors  to  their  people,  were  ordi- 
narily dissolved  only  by  death  and  physical  or  mental  disabil- 
ity.    The  ministry  of  later  days  has  been  generally  of  a  more 
transient  and  itinerant  character.     Few  of  us  remain  long 
enough  in  the  first  field  of  our  labors,  to  be  overtaken  by 
death.     We  can  remember  the  place  where  we  were  born, 
but  where  we  belong,  and  where  we  shall  die,  and  who  will 
follow  us  to  the  grave,  is,  in  many  cases,  beyond  our  conjecture. 
In  this  matter,  however,  as  it  seems  to  me,  it  poorly  becomes 
either  party,  either  the  church  or  the  ministry,  to  lay  upon 
each  other  the  entire  responsibility  for  the  change  that  has 
evidently  come  over  us.     We  need  not  be  surprised,  then,  to 
find  a  more  rapid  succession  of  ministers  here,  as  we  reach 
the  era  of  general  agitation  and  change  in  our  churches. 

The  next  Pastor  of  this  church  was  the  Rev.  Judson  A* 
Root,  who  was  ordained  Oct.  15,  1828.  Until  the  year  1831, 
Mr.  Root  preached  in  the  old  church,  which  was  erected, 
as  already  noticed,  in  1724.  By  a  vote  of  the  society,  that 
building  began  to  be  taken  down  and  removed  February  28, 
1831,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  present  edifice,  which  was 
erected  mainly  through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Root.  This 
building,  which  began  to  be  erected  on  the  26th  of  May,  1830, 
was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God  on  the  last  Thursday  of 
April,  1831.  Its  position  is  6  feet  north  of  the  site  occupied 
by  the  old  church. 

It  deserves  to  be  recorded  as  one  of  the  events  which  oc- 
curred during  Mr.  Root's  ministry,  (though  not,  I  suppose, 
connected  with  it,)  that  this  society,  together  with  that  of 
Northford,  were  set  oflf  from  the  town  of  Branford  in  the  year 
1831^  and  were  constituted  the  Town  of  North  Branford. 
After  a  ministry  of  six  years,  during  which  58  members  were 


20 

added  to  his  church,  Mr.  Root  was  dismissed  at  his  own  re- 
quest, some  time  time  in  the  year  1834. 

In  the  year  1835,  he  was  succeded  by  the  Rev.  Henry  B. 
Camp,  who  was  ordained  in  July  30,  of  that  year.  In  conse- 
quence of  a  threatened  pulmonary  disease,  Mr  Camp  was 
obliged  to  relinquish  preaching  and  retire  from  the  ministry, 
and  was  accordingly  dismissed  Oct.  9,  1836.  After  his  dis- 
mission, the  pulpit  was  supplied  by  a  variety  of  preachers,  un- 
til, in  Jan.  17,  1838,  the  Rev.  John  D.Baldwin  was  installed, 
who  was  the  last  Pastor  of  this  church.  During  his  ministry, 
of  six  years,  60  members  were  added  to  this  church,  of  whom 
25  were  added  in  Sept.  1840,  as  the  fruit  of  an  awakened  and 
general  interest  in  religious  things.  Mr.  Baldwin  was  dis- 
missed at  his  own  request,  July  3,  1844.  My  own  labors 
among  you  commenced  Dec.  1st  of  the  same  year.  * 

Thus  one  soweth  and  another  reapeth,  each  performing  a 
work  equally  honorable  and  important ;  and  whether  we  reap 
that  whereon  we  bestowed  no  labor,  or  sow  that  which  we  are 
not  permitted  to  reap,  both  he  that  soweth  and  he  that  reapeth 
should  rejoice  together  as  the  fruit  of  their  united  labors  is  gath- 
ered unto  life  eternal. 

We  have  thus  traced  the  history  of  this  church,  and  to 
some  extent,  of  this  community,  from  the  time  of  the  first 
settlement  of  this  region,  about  170  years  ago,  to  the  time 
when  our  fathers  began  to  meet  in  this  place  for  religious 
worship,  and  thence  to  the  organization  of  this  church  and 
society  in  1724;  and  from  that  period  through  the  successive 
ministration  of  its  six  Pastors.  The  task  has  been  one,  in  the 
execution  of  which  I  have  especially  attempted  to  gather 
together  all  the  well  authenticated  unwritten  traditions  of 
interest  which  have  come  down  from  "  the  days  of  old."  If 
by  means  of  this  sketch  of  early  times  I  may  assist  the 
present  generation  in  North  Branford  in  "  remembering  the 
days  of  old,"  and  in  "  considering  the  years  of  many  genera- 
tions," I  shall  feel  requited  for  the  task  I  have  undertaken. 

*  See  Appendix,  A, 


^^' 


APPENDIX. 


W 


A. 

Names  of  the  Ministers  of  this  church  from  the  beginning,  with 
the  year  of  the  commencement  and  of  the  close  of  their  ministry. 
The  first  six  commenced  their  ministry  here,  either  by  ordination 
or  installation  ;  the  last  without  installation. 

A.  D.        A.  D. 
Rev.  Jonathan  Meeick,         .         .  1726  1769 


i( 


^( 


(I 


a 


(( 


Samuel  Eells, 
Charles  Atwater, 
JuDsoN  A.  Root, 
Henry  B.  Camp,  . 
John  D.  Baldwin, 
George  I.  Wood,  . 


1769 

1808 

1809 

1825 

1828 

1834 

1835 

1836 

1838 

1844 

1844 

Names  of  all  who  have  held  the  office  of  Deacon  in  this  church, 
with  the  year,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  in  which  they  were 
elected  to  office. 


A.  D 

Benjamin  Barnes,           .... 

1724 

Daniel  Page,  some  time  before    . 

.     1734 

Israel  Baldwin,  some  time  before     . 

1744 

Ithiel  Russell, 

.     1754 

Barnabas  Mulford,  some  time  before 

1769 

Ensign  Ebenezer  Russell, 

.     1772 

Aaron  Baldwin, 

1778 

Israel  Baldwin, 

.     1798 

Daniel  Russell, 

1808 

Daniel  Wheadon,       .         .         .         «         . 

.     1822 

Sydney  Alden, 

1822 

Thomas  Plant,            .         .         .         ,         . 

.     1838 

Samuel  F.  Russell,         .... 

1846 

Luther  Chidsey, 

.     1846 

c. 


A  list  of  the  names  of  those  who  constituted  this  church,  at  the 
time  of  Mr.  Eell's  ordination,  in  1769  ;  45  years  after  the  church 
was  organized.  The  names  are  given  as  they  stand  in  Mr.  Eell's 
record. 


22 


Deacons  <  o 


Ithiel  Russell, 


and  y'  wives 


{ Jerusha  Russell. 


larnabas  Mulford,  J   «-""  j    »»xt^o    ^  fjannah Mulford. 
The  Rev.  Jonathan  Merick   and   his  wife  Jerusha  Merick. 
Esq.  Jonathan  Russell. 

Capt.  Samuel  Harrison,  and  his  wife  Rebecca  Harrison. 
Capt.  Josiah  Harrison. 
Ensign  Jacob  Rose. 
Ensign  Ebenezer  Russell,  and  his  wife  Mable  Russell. 


David  Rose, 
Daniel  Barker, 
Daniel  Foot. 
Abraham  Page, 
Oliver  Collins, 
John  Foot, 
Samuel  Buel,  Sen. " 
Jonathan  Russell,  " 
Solomon  Rose,        " 
Stephen  Palmer,    " 
Daniel  Baldwin,    " 
Samuel  Ford,         '* 
Timothy  Harrison,  " 
Edward  Petty, 


(( 


(( 


i( 


(( 


(( 


(( 


Hannah  Rose. 
Patience  Barker. 


and  his  wife 


(( 


a 


Abigail  Page. 

Collins. 

Abigail  Foot. 

Buel. 

Lydia  Russell. 

Thankful  Rose. 

Lydia  Palmer. 

Theodosia  Baldwin. 

Martha  Ford. 

Lydia  Harrison. 

Elizabeth  Petty. 

Ensign  Josiah  Harrison  and  his  wife Harrison. 

Aaron  Baldwin  "      *'     "     Sarah  Baldwin. 

Nathan  Palmer. 
James  Harrison. 
Daniel  Linsley. 

The  widow  Sarah  Baldwin. 


u 


n 


a 


i( 


iC 


n 


«( 


it 


n 


a 


n 
a 
(( 

K 
il 


(C 


U 


it 


Hannah  Whedon. 
Martha  Barker. 
Dinah  Baldwin. 
Abigail  Pond. 
Thankful  Palmer. 
Lucy  Rose. 
Mary  Palmer. 
Mrs.  Abigal  Merick,  wife  of  Minor  Merick. 


it 
li 
it 
n 
a 
n 


it 

(t 

a 


it 


ti 


it 


ti 


it 
it 


ti 


it 


it 
ti 


it 


it 


(( 


i( 


(( 


it 


it 
il 


Martha  Page, 
Sarah  Wolcott, 
Priscilla  Linsley, 
Elizabeth  Palmer,'* 
Mary  Scarritt,  " 
Hannah  Harrison," 

Whedon,       " 

Submit  Norton,  " 
Rachel  Rogers, 
Rebecca  Rogers, 
Martha  Harrison,  " 
— —  Darwin,  " 
Margaret  Butler,  " 
Thankful  Rose,    " 


"  Lieut.  Ephraim  Page. 

*'  Doct.  Jeremiah  Wolcott. 

"  Israel  Linsley. 

"  Samuel  Palmer. 

"  Jeremiah  Scarritt. 

"  Daniel  Harrison. 

"  Jehiel  Whedon. 

"  Asahel  Norton. 

"  Nehemiah  Rogers. 

"  Thomas  Rogers. 

"  Nathan  Harrison. 

"  Joseph  Darwin. 

*'  John  Butler. 

"  Nathan  Rose. 


23 


Mrs.  Lydia  Barker,    wife    of   Jacob  Barker. 
Zillah  Page,  "        "    Nathaniel  Page. 

Hannah  Baldwin,"        "    George  Baldwin. 
Lydia  Tyler,        "        "    George  Tyler. 
Rebecca  Hubbard,  widow. 
Mary  Hoadley,  wife  of  Daniel  Hoadley. 
Daniel  Rose. 

Whole  number  of  church  members,  77. 

B. 

As  a  matter  of  interest  to  the  people  of  North  Branford,  I  have 
appended,  for  the  sake  of  preservation,  (what  does  not  fall  very  le- 
gitimately in  my  province,  as  an  ecclesiastical  historian,)  a  list  of 
officers  and  men  of  Mr.  Eell's  military  company. 


Capt.  Samuel  Eells. 
1st.  Lieut.  Samuel  Baldwin, 
2d.  Lieut.  Jacob  Bunnell. 
Sergeants, 

Ebenezer  Linsley, 

Isaac  Foot, 

John  White, 

Lud.  Munson, 

Abraham  Foot. 
Corporals. 

Uriah  Collins, 

Samuel  Harrison, 

Samuel  Brown, 

Jacob  Page. 

Musicians, 

John  Bunnell, 

Joseph  Whedon, 

Moses  Baldwin. 


Samuel  Augustus  Barker, 
Ambrose  Baldwin, 
James  Barker, 
Benjamin  Bartholomew, 
Samuel  Bartholomew, 
Daniel  Baldwin, 
Jairus  Bunnell, 
Phineas  Baldwin, 
Jacob  Barker, 
Gideon  Bartholomew, 
Jonathan  Byington, 
Aaron  Cook,  * 

Titus  Cook, 


Stephen  Cook, 
Hooker  Frisbee, 
Isaac  Frisbee, 
Samuel  Ford, 
Gideon  Goodrich, 
Daniel  Hoadley, 
Samuel  Hoadley, 
Ralph  Hoadley, 
Jairus  Harrison, 
Rufus  Harrison, 
Isaac  Hanford, 
Benjamin  Harrison, 
Reuben  Johnson, 
John  Linsley, 
Jonathan  Munson, 
James  Pierpont, 
Samuel  Peck, 
John  Potter, 
Solomon  Rose, 
Billy  Rose, 
Jonathan  Russell, 
Ebenezer  Rogers, 
Heman  Rogers, 
Joseph  Smith, 
Dow  Smith, 
Allen  Smith, 
Othniel  Stent, 
Ebenezer  Trusdell, 
Solomon  Talmage, 
Asa  Todd, 
Jonathan  Tyler, 
Medad  Taintor. 


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Connecticut 

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